Something 'kicked' this hypervelocity star racing through the Milky Way at 1.3 million miles per hour (video)

Apr 28, 2024
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A low-mass star races through the Milky Way at over a million miles per hour, a journey that began with either the supernova explosion of a vampire star or an encounter with black holes.

Something 'kicked' this hypervelocity star racing through the Milky Way at 1.3 million miles per hour (video) : Read more
Very interesting article, but this bit got me wondering:

This investigation revealed that the star belongs to a class of the oldest stars in the Milky Way: L subdwarfs. These stars are very rare and remarkable because of their highly low masses and relatively cool temperatures.

I think it means comparatively low masses, but it's a very unusual way of putting it. It's about as low as you cen get and still have a viable star.
 
Last edited:
Jun 22, 2024
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Another possibility is that a star can be propelled to these speeds by the "Slingshot" effect.
This method is used to propel spacecraft to speeds which allow for the escape from the Solar System, Voyagers 1 and 2 are examples.
With spacecraft, these "Slingshot" maneuvers are calculated, with stars this is pure chance.
But, with the number of stars in our galaxy, this probability is quite high.
 

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